50 Inspirational Boss Quotes to Motivate and Lead with Impact

"The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers."

- Ralph Nader

"A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader; a great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"Leadership is not about being in charge. It’s about taking care of those in your charge."

- Simon Sinek

"A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way."

- John C. Maxwell

"A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be."

- Rosalynn Carter

"The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. They are the one that gets people to do the greatest things."

- Ronald Reagan

"Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others."

- Jack Welch

"To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"People don’t leave bad jobs; they leave bad bosses. Conversely, they stay because of good leaders."

- Travis Bradberry

"Success is only meaningful and enjoyable if it feels like your own."

- Michelle Obama

"I never dreamed about success. I worked for it."

- Estée Lauder

"You have to believe in yourself when no one else does."

- Serena Williams

"I didn’t get there by wishing for it or hoping for it, but by working for it."

- Estée Lauder

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"Power’s not given to you. You have to take it."

- Beyoncé

"She believed she could, so she did."

- R. S. Grey

"Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality."

- Warren Bennis

"There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish."

- Michelle Obama

"The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things."

- President Ronald Reagan

"I'm not bossy. I'm the boss."

- Beyoncé

"Women belong in all places where decisions are being made."

- Ruth Bader Ginsburg

"Do not wait for someone else to come and speak for you. It’s you who can change the world."

- Malala Yousafzai

"The question isn’t who’s going to let me; it’s who’s going to stop me."

- Ayn Rand

"To handle yourself, use your head. To handle others, use your heart."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another."

- John C. Maxwell

"A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves."

- Lao Tzu

"Create the highest, grandest vision possible for your life, because you become what you believe."

- Oprah Winfrey

"To add value to others, one must first value others."

- John Maxwell

"A leader leads by example, not by force."

- Sun Tzu

"Define success on your own terms, achieve it by your own rules, and build a life you’re proud to live."

- Anne Sweeney

"Leaders think and talk about the solutions. Followers think and talk about the problems."

- Brian Tracy

"The best way to predict the future is to create it."

- Peter Drucker

"People may hear your words, but they feel your attitude."

- John C. Maxwell

"You have what it takes to be a victorious, independent, fearless woman."

- Tyra Banks

"Leaders don’t inflict pain, they share pain."

- Max Depree

"No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it."

- Andrew Carnegie

"The way to achieve your own success is to be willing to help somebody else get it first."

- Iyanla Vanzant

"No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it."

- H.E. Luccock

"We are stronger when we listen, and smarter when we share."

- Rania Al-Abdullah

"Never look down on anybody unless you’re helping them up."

- Jesse Jackson

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is a habit, not a virtue."

- Aristotle

"When people go to work, they shouldn’t have to leave their hearts at home."

- Betty Bender

"People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives."

- President Theodore Roosevelt

"The best leaders have a high consideration factor. They really care about their people."

- Brian Tracy

"Great leaders don’t set out to be a leader… they set out to make a difference. It’s never about the role – always about the goal."

- Lisa Haisha

"Success is not how high you have climbed, but how you make a positive difference to the world."

- Roy T. Bennett

"A boss says ‘Go!’; a leader says ‘Let’s go!’"

- E.M. Kelly

"True leaders understand that leadership is not about them but about those they serve. It is not about exalting themselves but about lifting others up."

- Sheri L. Dew

"Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence."

- Sheryl Sandberg

"A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit."

- Arnold Glasow

"The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision. It’s got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet."

- Reverend Theodore M. Hesburgh

"Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish."

- Sam Walton

"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"I am my own experiment. I am my own work of art."

- Madonna

"Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim."

- Nora Ephron

"A girl should be two things: who and what she wants."

- Coco Chanel

"A woman with a voice is by definition a strong woman."

- Melinda French Gates

"The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud."

- Coco Chanel

"A strong woman looks a challenge dead in the eye and gives it a wink."

- Gina Carey

"Some women choose to follow men, and some choose to follow their dreams."

- Lady Gaga

"You can waste your lives drawing lines. Or you can live your life crossing them."

- Shonda Rhimes

"The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any."

- Alice Walker

"If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman."

- Margaret Thatcher

"A woman is the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture, and transform."

- Diane Mariechild

"Just because you are soft doesn’t mean you are not a force. Honey and wildfire are both the colour gold."

- Victoria Erickson

"I can and I will. Watch me."

- Carrie Green

"Keep your heels, head, and standards high."

- Coco Chanel

"You are never too small to make a difference."

- Greta Thunberg

"Don’t wait for permission to do something creative."

- Ava DuVernay

"Don’t just stand for the success of other women – insist on it."

- Gail Blanke

"You will never win if you never begin."

- Helen Rowland

"Find out who you are and do it on purpose."

- Dolly Parton

"Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will."

- Karim Seddiki

"A good boss is a good teacher."

- Gibran Khalil Gibran

"The best leader is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it."

- Theodore Roosevelt

"Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it."

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

"You don’t have to be a brilliant leader to be successful, but you do have to be brilliant at leading yourself."

- Simon Sinek

"A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit."

- Arnold H Glasgow

"The greatest leaders mobilize others by coalescing people around a shared vision."

- Ken Blanchard

"A leader is not a searchlight, always shining bright, but a lighthouse, guiding others through treacherous waters."

- John C. Maxwell

"The leader who is admired and respected is the one who is able to inspire and empower others."

- John C. Maxwell

"The greatest gift of leadership is a boss who wants you to be successful."

- Jon Taffer

"A good leader leads the people from above them. A great leader leads the people from within them."

- M.D. Arnold

"You get in life what you have the courage to ask for."

- Oprah Winfrey

"What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make."

- Jane Goodall

"Do not bring people in your life who weigh you down. And trust your instincts – good relationships feel good. They feel right."

- Oprah Winfrey

"Be so good they can’t ignore you."

- Steve Martin

"Dreams don’t work unless you do."

- John C. Maxwell

"The most effective way to do it, is to do it."

- Amelia Earhart

"Don’t watch the clock; do what it does – keep going."

- Sam Levenson

"Success doesn’t come from what you do occasionally; it comes from what you do consistently."

- Marie Forleo

"The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy to say yes."

- Tony Blair

"Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire."

- Jennifer Lee

"I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship."

- Louisa May Alcott

"I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse."

- Florence Nightingale

"Don’t be afraid to speak up for yourself. Keep fighting for your dreams!"

- Gabby Douglas

"I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions."

- Stephen R. Covey

"Embrace what makes you unique, even if it makes others uncomfortable."

- Janelle Monae

"Be a first-rate version of yourself, not a second-rate version of someone else."

- Judy Garland

"I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear."

- Rosa Parks

"Don’t give up. Don’t take anything personally. And don’t take no for an answer."

- Sophia Amoruso

"You take people as far as they will go, not as far as you would like them to go."

- Jeanette Rankin

"When a woman becomes her own best friend, life is easier."

- Diane Von Furstenberg

"To win in the marketplace you must first win in the workplace."

- Doug Conant

"Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything."

- George Bernard Shaw

"If you don’t like being a doormat, then get off the floor."

- Al Anon

"It’s not your job to like me; it’s mine."

- Byron Katie

"She remembered who she was and the game changed."

- Lalah Delia

"Some women fear the fire, some women simply become it."

- R.H. Sin

"You don’t lead by hitting people over the head—that’s assault, not leadership."

- Dwight Eisenhower

"At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us."

- Albert Schweitzer

"When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen."

- Ernest Hemingway

"A good boss is a person who can tolerate my complaints and still manage to say hello to me every day."

- Byron Pusifer

"The words of the tongue should have three gatekeepers: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?"

- Arabian Proverb

"When you are grateful, fear disappears, and abundance appears."

- Anthony Robbins

"Don’t talk unless you can improve the silence."

- Jorge Luis Borges

"A good boss is better than a good company."

- Chinese Proverb

"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be."

- Kurt Vonnegut

"Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we’ll ever do."

"The art of leadership is saying no, not yes. It is very easy to say yes."

"Leaders instill in their people a hope for success and a belief in themselves. Positive leaders empower people to accomplish their goals."

"A strong woman stands up for herself. A stronger woman stands up for others."